Stirring slow, now and then till 6.35 curd pH at hoop. Ladled in more dry than wet curds (holes in my ladle).

Curd into 5x 4.5” hoops. First flip in 3 hours – curt was 6.06 pH. Un-hoop was at 4.88 curd pH. About 1 tea salt on each. Into box at 50-54°F. Should see fuzz in a couple more days.

Notes to self:1. I got small mechanical divots in the sides from the curds not knitting well. I think it will even out though as the rind develops. Next time I might try not stirring after cutting and just ladle the mass into the hoops (traditional method?). 2. I need to get a smaller solid ladle that fits inside the hoops. (update - got an 8oz ladle in today and it fits perfectly inside the hoops)3. Ordered TA50 and MD89 to try with the FD - as part of the original 10 step plan4. Can't wait till my milk source switches out to all Jersey in a few weeks.

I have always used a 6x flocculation multiplier and do not cut and stir the curd. I scoop directly from the vat to the forms.

I am open to other ways to improve my cheese makes, so I will be following the make closely

One "problem" I have had is the inability to achieve a fully consistent soft creamy paste throughout the cheese. I generally wind up with the soft and creamy outside but a center that is a bit less developed...not as uniform as I would prefer.

The cams are in the colder 40degF aging microcave. Humidity is enough just to keep a mist on the lid but no drops. Nothing to new to report or show. They get fresh air and flipped daily. I expect that in another week or so they will be ready for a test slice and new pics. Really looking forward to this first sample!

40 F is around 4.5 C, so typical fridge temperature. Once wrapped, they should continue to ripen at 40 just fine. It will slow it down, but this can be a good thing as it helps prevent slipskin. 50, which is around 10 C (or typical cave temperature) will work too, and they will ripen more quickly, so you have to be quick to correct any indication that things are going wrong. I've ripened the few white mould cheeses I've made in our regular fridge (once I had full coverage) and they turned out fine. So, it won't prevent ripening.

- Jeff

Logged

The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.

I initially had them in the cave which is between 51 and 54 degF - in their minicave. I started to see a bit of slipage on the sides so I thought that it would be best to move them to the minifridge to slow down the ripening. I can't get it any warmer than 40 degF without getting another outside controller (which I just might do before my next test batch). Softening is still moving towards the center but very slowly. One of them is thinner than the rest so I'll prob cut into that one next week to check out its development. Since they first went into the minicave, I've kept the RH as high as possible. A light dew on the lid but no drops. I need to find a smaller remote sensor that can fit in the minicave to better record RH.

Those look outstanding to me. I use a minifridge as a cave and I found that there is an adjustment screw hole which I suppose was for calibration. You may be able to adjust that to get your temps a bit warmer. I had to take the adjustment pot off of the fridge in order to find it.

Cut into the smallest/thinnest one today. All of the have that slightly soft "medium rare" feel. It wasn't runny at all but there is a consistent softness throughout. Maybe because it is still cold from the 40 degF fridge it has been aging in. I'm going to let it sit out, covered, at room temp a while to see what the paste does. The taste is real smooth and creamy with just a tad too much salt (note to self). I'll update with a picture after the cheese is more room temp. No real hint of ammonia at all so maybe I might age the others a bit more?

After reading Al's cam thread and Linuxboy's comments, I now think that the small ripening fridge I have for cams is just a bit too cold. After the wheel warmed up, the paste started to ooze out a bit. I'll have to get an external controller so I can up the temp a bit. I still had some holes in the paste so maybe my curd was a bit dry going into the hoops.?..